1. Field
The information disclosed in this patent relates to pavement markers utilized during pavement surface treatment.
2. Background Information
Pavement is a durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain automobile traffic. Paved roadways and parking lots utilize road surface markings to provide guidance and information to drivers and pedestrians. Striping lines are a typical form of road surface markings. Permanent reflective pavement markers also delineate roadways.
Overtime, asphalt and other pavements mature due to traffic and the weather. For example, continued exposure to the elements may cause pavement surfaces to erode and the oils in the asphalt to oxidize. This oxidation may cause the asphalt to become brittle, at which time it may lose its flexibility and water-sheeting properties.
Slurry sealing is a cost-effective maintenance procedure intended to extend the life of mature asphalt pavements that are still structurally sound. Slurry seal is applied in a viscous, thick, flowing coat over the original roadway surface. This may extend the life of the pavement by protecting it from damaging elements, while at the same time filling in minor irregularities in the pavement surface and improving its appearance with a finished black surface.
After the slurry seal is applied, the finished black surface of the slurry seal covers and hides the existing pavement striping lines. New striping lines then may be added to the new pavement surface. Rather than resurvey the roadway or parking lot to locate positions for the new striping lines, pavement marking companies place temporary markers over the top of the existing traffic lines before applying the slurry seal. The temporary markers provide identifiable physical locations of the existing striping lines. The temporary markers then are used after the slurry seal covers the existing striping lines to locate and add new striping lines over the now covered striping lines. Once the new striping lines are added, the temporary markers may be removed.
Removing the temporary markers is difficult. Often, a large chunk of slurry is pulled up with a temporary marker, leaving a void in the slurry surface that requires repair. To circumvent this, some construction maintenance contracts prohibit the use of temporary markers and require the pavement marking company to resurvey the pavement for striping application. Surveying is an expensive process that either raises the bid of the pavement marking company or reduces the amount of profit made by the pavement marking company. What is needed is an apparatus and process to address these and other issues.